Aeris Gainsborough was kneeling in front of the altar of the old church in sector 5. She carefully tended the flowers growing there, the only location in the city where they would grow.

      A noise far above made her look up. It had sounded like an explosion. There was a noise like heavy rain as the fragments from the reactor bounced off the roof. She waited listening for a few minutes, and eventually the sound stopped. Aeris was vaguely curious about the noise, but her flowers mattered much more to her.

      Her mind drifted as she carried out her task. It always happened when she worked. This time a face rose from the depths of her memory. Zack. She had only known him briefly when she was 16. They had enjoyed a sort of romance, nothing serious. But the intervening years had introduced her to no other companion and found herself thinking of him more and more frequently. But she hadn't seen him in over five years. It was time to move on.

      Reno paused outside the Church. It was run old and practically falling apart.

      "You sure she went in here?"

      "Yes sir"

      Reno frowned. He had been sent to acquire the girl by Hojo. And it was not the first time the scientist had expressed an interest in her. As he had learned from Tseng, the Shin Ra Corporation had been interested in this girl for over 15 years. However, any attempt to capture her had failed.

      Reno smirked. Where Tseng had failed, he would succeed.

      "Okay. You two wait here and guard the doors. The rest of you are with me"

      He walked quietly into the church. There. She had her back to them, her attention focused completely on the flowers in front of the altar. Reno frowned at this curious. It was supposedly impossible to grow anything in Midgar and the black desert which surrounded it.

      Reno shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was here to apprehend the girl and collect his payment. Sliding his nightstick from his belt he set the setting low enough to render the girl unconscious, but not damage her.

      Reno stepped right behind Aeris, his training allowing him to move with virtually no noise.

      "Aeris Gainsborough?"

      She started at his voice, twisting round to see who he was. Her eyes widened with fear.

      "Do not try to run" Reno warned her, his nightstick hovering close to her neck.

      "You're with the Turks,” she said bitterly.

      Reno allowed a hint of a smile to appear on his lips.

      "Ah. Smart. Then you know that you cannot escape"

      She nodded sadly. She glanced to her staff, which she had left on one of the pews. Too far, much too far.

      Reno caught her glance.

      "No that won't do you any good at all" He gestured with his nightstick. "Stand up".

      She stood, and the soldiers formed a ring around her.

      "Take her to the chopper" he ordered.

      As the soldiers led her away, Reno glanced around the church and looked at the flowers again. The area they were growing in was quite small, but the flowers were densely packed. He frowned at this. It looked as though there was a small pocket of concentrated mako just beneath the church. Not worth reporting, he decided. With that he turned and walked out the church to the waiting chopper.

      It was late when Tifa and Barret returned from sector 5. They had said nothing on the journey back. One thought concerned both of them: who had sold them out? Tifa doubted it was Jessie, Biggs or Wedge. They had none them for years now. They were trustworthy. But who else could it be. Tifa glanced at Barret as they walked through the slum to the 7^th Heaven. It could never be Barret. They all knew his complete loathing for the Shin Ra. No amount of money could ever convince him to sell the rebels out.

      Tifa sighed as they reached the door to the 7^th Heaven. It would take time and patience to figure out where the leak was. For now, she had to return to her image as a legitimate citizen of Midgar. Barret slumped in a dark corner, deep in thought. Tifa stood next to the bar waiting for the customers.

      Five hours later, the number of customers began to decrease again; eventually all but one of the patrons had left. Tifa frowned. He had been one of the first to arrive and he had drunk very little despite the time he had been here. The man’s gaze flicked between both her and Barret.

      With sinking feeling, Tifa walked towards Barret as casually as she could manage.

      “Anything else to drink sir?” she said in as normal a voice as she could manage, before adding in a whisper “I think that man’s a spy”.

      Barret nodded, before adding “Just another beer”

      Tifa retuned to the bar and then took Barret his drink. Then she walked to the door, locking it. The man looked up in surprise. As the door was locked, Barret was on his feet, grabbing the man roughly and forcing him against the wall.

      “Who sent you?”

      “What are you talking about?” The man looked confused.

      “Don’t give me that shit. You’ve been spying on us”

      “I don’t know what you’re talking about”

      Barret thrust the gun arm close to the man’s head.

      “Do you see this? If you don’t tell me who sent you you’re getting this in your face”

      The man looked worried, but still said nothing.   

      “Alright” said Barret “I’m going to count to three. One”

      The man paled.

      “Two” Barret loaded the gun arm.

      “I can’t tell you. He’ll kill me”

      “Who? Who’ll kill you?” put in Tifa from the side.  

      The man didn’t answer. Barret slammed him against the wall again.

      “Who?”

      “Don Corneo” The man looked terrified now.

      “The guy from Wall Market?” Tifa said suspiciously. The man nodded.

      “Why?”

      The man shrugged. “My orders where to come here and see if there was a man with a gun arm”

      “Well you found him. And you’re going to get this arm through your head”

      Tifa grabbed Barret’s arm, stopping him. “You can’t kill him”

      Barret looked shocked. “Why the hell not?”

      “Because then we’ll be no better then them”

      Barret knew she was right. For all their terrorism, they tried as much as possible to avoid injuring innocents. But this guy was not an innocent. He was a spy. Barret raised his arm again. 

      “Barret, no.”

      With a snarl, Barret pulled back, dropping the man to the floor. He scrambled up, ripping open the lock and the door and disappearing into the night.

      “No. I can’t let you go through with this”

      “We need to find out why Corneo’s after us,” protested Tifa.

      “But not the way you’re doing”

      “How else are we supposed to get to him? His mansion’s guarded. You’ve seen Wall Market. He owns it”

      Barret sighed. It didn’t look like he could persuade her otherwise.

      “But Tifa..”

      “No. I’m doing this”

      Tifa had already changed her clothes. Her hair was carefully styled. Barret had to admit she looked beautiful. More than normal.

      “Wait here. You know I can take care of myself”

      Barret knew she was telling the truth. Anyone who crossed Tifa never complained afterwards. Still, he felt a responsibility. He watched helplessly as Tifa strode out the door of the 7^th Heaven into the night, draping a cloak over herself.

      It didn’t take long for Tifa to reach Wall Market. The place was busy regardless of the hour. Tifa pushed her way through the throngs of people, heading for the mansion.

      Don Corneo was a man of some reputation in the slums. He owned the infamous Honey Bee Inn, a place crowded with Shin Ra soldiers on leave. He had some ties with the Shin Ra, plus his own criminal dealings down here. He killed those who opposed him, but he had one weakness: women. It was this weakness Tifa planned on exploiting. The Honey Bee Inn was always on the lookout for new recruits, but first they all had to pass Corneo’s personal “tests”.

Tifa shuddered involuntarily. She pushed her way onwards. The mansion was not hard to find. It was constructed next to the wall dividing sector 6 from sector 7. Taking a deep breath she pushed through the doors into the softly lit interior.  

She remained as calm as possible as she walked up to the first of Corneo’s many personal guards. He noticed her immediately, a smirk forming on his face. He slowly looked her up and down. Tifa resisted the urge to hurt him. Badly.

“Hey, you’re one good looking girl” he drawled. “You here for an interview?”

Tifa nodded.

“Right this way. The Don’s been looking for a wife amongst the candidates for the last month. We’ve been waiting for another candidate for today. You showed up right on cue”

Tifa kept her face blank, as she felt a pit open up in her stomach. She was stuck now. This was not the way she had planned it. She had to be picked over the others. She needed to find out why Corneo was looking for Barret.

The guard must have noticed something in her face.

“C’mon! Cheer up a bit. Just think, you could be the wife of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in the slums”

Tifa tried to look enthusiastic, but it was hard.

The guard led her up the main stairs and onto a landing where two other girls were sat, two guards standing by them. Tifa waited nervously as the guard entered, after nodding to the other two. Moments later he re-emerged.

“Okay. The Don will see you now”

Tifa followed the others in. They lined up in front of a desk. Seconds later, the Don appeared from a side room. He was hideously overweight and leered at the girls as he waddled out.

“My, my” he drooled “What do we have here?”

He walked up to each of the girls in turn. Carefully looking them up and down, staring into their eyes. He approached Tifa, and she tried to remain calm. Corneo stared at her intently for some minutes, before taking a few steps backwards.

“I’ve made my choice”

Tifa felt the knot tighten in her stomach.

“I choose this one, the dark haired beauty” indicating Tifa.

The knot in her stomach did not go, but she felt some relief. She could get her information now. The others glared at her enviously, but she ignored them. Corneo spoke briefly to the guards.

“You two can have them. I don’t want to be disturbed for the rest of the day”

The guards nodded, leading the two failures away, as Corneo lead Tifa off in to the back of his office. As he closed the door to this bedroom, Tifa punched him in the side of his head sprawling him on the floor. Corneo tried to sit up, his hand covering the spot where she hit him.

“What the...?”

Tifa kicked him, forcing Corneo across the room, smashing him into the wall. Tifa reached down, grabbing his collar. She wrenched him up and shoved him against the wall.

“Why were you looking for Barret” she spat at him, her anger barely controlled.

“Who?” Corneo said terrified.

Tifa shoved him against the wall again.

“You know. The man with a gun for an arm”

Corneo’s eyes widened with recognition.

“Why are you looking for him?” Tifa demanded again.

Corneo didn’t answer. With barely any effort, Tifa turned and threw him against the other wall. Grabbing him again, she pulled him up level with her again.

“Why were you looking for him?”

“I was ordered to” Corneo finally replied.

“By who?” Tifa demanded.

“I can’t tell you that! I’d be killed”

Tifa leaned close to Corneo, her voice quiet, but filled with menace.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll kill you”

Corneo paused, and Tifa took the opportunity to fling Corneo across the room again.

Picking him up, she demanded “Who?”

“It was Heidegger!”

Tifa was shocked. The head of Public Safety Maintenance...a member of the Shin Ra...

“What did you tell the Shin Ra?”

Corneo gasped for air as he told her. “Shin Ra’s looking for Avalanche. They plan to crush them. Literally. They’re destroying the support to the upper plate of sector 7”

      Tifa let go of Corneo and stepped back in horror.

      “They’re going to crush the sector 7 slums? Because of Avalanche?”

      Corneo nodded. “I’m just glad its not Sector 6”  

      “Shut up!” she screamed at him. She had to get out of here. Fast. Barret, Marlene, Jessie, Wedge, Biggs. She had to warn them. She ran to the door. Pulling her PHS from her pocket. As she raced out of the mansion she punched in Barret’s number. As soon as he answered she frantically explained their situation. She could hear Barret immediately shouting orders to the others.

      “We’ll meet you at the support. Get here fast!”

      “Okay” Tifa disconnected and started running as fast as possible through the crowded streets of sector 6.

      The members of Avalanche frantically ran through the streets towards the pillar. The door in the razor wire fence that encircled the pillar was open...

      Barret ran on up the metal steps, yelling back to the others

      “Cover me”

      The others nodded, advancing slowly up, their guns at the ready. Barret charged up the steps, not believing that even the Shin Ra would do this. They were going to completely destroy sector 7, the slums and the plate. Barret increased his pace, praying he wasn’t too late.

      Tifa burst into sector 7 moving fast. She could see blasts of gunfire coming from all over the pillar. As she watched, she saw a figure detach from the pillar, falling towards the ground. It landed heavily. Tifa gasped: it was Wedge. She rushed to him, praying he was okay. He opened his eyes.

      “Tifa...we...tried...”

      His voice faltered, his eyes closing.

      “No!” screamed Tifa, frantically searching for a pulse. There was none. Tears streaming down her face, she ran, leaving Wedge, racing up the pillar stairs.

      Tifa ran fast, having already pulled out her gun. She stumbled to a halt as she saw Biggs slumped at a corner of the stairs, blood dripping from several wounds.

      “Biggs?” she asked her voice trembling. He didn’t answer. Tifa turned running up the stairs again, hoping, praying that someone was still alive. She found Jessie a bit higher than Biggs. She was resting against the railing, her hand clamped around her arm. Her eyes lit up when she saw Tifa.

      “Barret” she gasped “he needs help. At the top”

      “But you’re hurt” Tifa protested.

      Jessie shook her head. “It’s too late for me”

      Walking closer, Tifa saw that Jessie’s clothes were slick with blood.

      “Go” ordered Jessie. “Barret needs you”

      Her words hit home. Tifa ran on, hearing the sound of gunfire getting loader. As she rounded the stairs to the top of the pillar, she saw Barret, ducked down using the stairs as cover.

      In the centre of the gantry surrounding the pillar, a squad of Shin Ra soldiers fired at Barret, while behind them a man in a blue suit typed commands into a console set against the pillar.

      “Barret!” Tifa cried.

      Barret glanced back, and then resumed firing.

      “The others..” she started.

      “I know,” said Barret. “They’ll pay for this”.

      Between the two of them, they started picking off the soldiers, but by that point the blue suited man had stepped away from the console, speaking rapidly into a PHS. Within seconds they could heart he whine of rotor blades as a helicopter rose beside the pillar. Climbing aboard, he ordered the guards on, turning to Barret and Tifa.

      “You can’t do anything now. Need to be a Shin Ra exec to stop the plate release”

      “Bastards!” roared Barret, running onto he gantry firing wildly at the helicopter as it moved swiftly away under the plate.

      “Barret!” Tifa yelled from the console. “Help me with this!”

      Barret took a last glance at the retreating helicopter and ran to the console. Tifa was frantically typing, hammering the keys.

      “It wants a password. I don’t know what it is,” she said in desperation.

      There was dull rumble above them. Barret looked up. Above them, small charges embedded around the outside of the pillar blew, cracking the top of the pillar.

      “Tifa! We have to leave now!” Barret yelled.

      Tifa didn’t respond, still frantically typing. Barret wrapped one arm round Tifa, pulling her up off her feet. He ran to one of the support cables. Grabbing it with his good arm, he fired point blank at the end attached to the gantry. The bullets shredded the end, and Barret, re-establishing his grip on Tifa dropped over the edge.

      Behind them, fire consumed the pillar, shattering it. Barret and Tifa completed the swing, landing hard in sector 6. Behind them, the plate seemed to fall in slow motion. Chunks of metal already knocked loose by the initial explosion dropped, destroying houses. And then it was over as the huge plate smashed into the slums destroying everything below it, the shock waves destroying most of the top of the plate.

      Barret slowly stood up, turning to see what remained of sector 7. He stood and stared at the mass of twisted concrete and metal, before suddenly breaking down, sobbing.

      “Marlene!” His cry chilled Tifa, who suddenly realised: Marlene had been shut in the bar. Safe from harm. She started crying as well, unable to stop the tears. Shin Ra had taken everything from her. Her home, her Father, her friends.

      Barret stumbled to a wall, punching it with his gun arm, before firing blindly, destroying sections of the wall. Tifa sat helplessly back, barely able to see because of the tears in her eyes.

      Barret suddenly turned. His eyes clear now, filled with anger and vengeance. Tifa saw and tried to dry her eyes, getting up and stumbling to where Barret stood.

      “It ends now. President Shin Ra is going to die”

      Tifa nodded, her sadness fading, replaced with unquenchable anger.

      “Let’s get the bastards”

      Barret raced through wall market, knocking down anyone who got in his way, his eyes fixed on their target: a cable. Before it had run underneath the upper plate of sector 7, but now swung free. It was a way up. To them. They would get their revenge.

      Barret pulled himself up the cable with ease, Tifa following close behind. They moved quickly, ignoring scrapes and cuts. The hauled themselves ever upwards, the tremendous height below them, concerning neither. At their incredible pace it wasn’t long before they reached the upper plate of sector 6, pulling themselves up quickly.

      Frantically they ran along the streets, following one of the spokes as it lead to the centre of the city. The Shin Ra building rose up high above them, and for a moment Tifa hesitated, but Barret was already heading for the doors. She ran quickly and entered the building just after him.

      They found themselves in an enormous lobby. Someone at a desk began addressing them without looking up.

      “Yes, can I help...” her voice trailed off as she saw Barret and Tifa. Barret didn’t pause, and began firing, killing the receptionist. He raced on, shooting the other employees as he neared them. The lobby was filled with screams and gunfire. The floor became slick with blood.

      Tifa fired more carefully then Barret, trying to spare any civilians, or at least those who could not have ordered the destruction of sector 7.

      She selected another Shin Ra executive, and was about to fire, when her chest exploded with fire and she was shoved forward. She looked in horror, her eyes streaming with tears from the pain, seeing a sword protruding from the front of her body. Her vision began darkening and she slumped forward, not feeling anything now. Oblivion consumed her.

      Barret glanced back to see how Tifa was doing and was shocked to see a SOLDIER pulling his sword from her body, lying limply on the floor. With a scream of rage he turned, shredding the SOLDIER with bullets. As the body fell to the floor, Barret moved on. Rage had consumed him completely now. Nothing mattered except revenge. The stomp of feet made him twist his head to the staircase. A platoon of Shin Ra soldiers ran down the steps. Barret swore under his breath, opening up with his gun arm again, looking for cover. He ran to the side of the stairs, still firing. A sharp pain in his leg made him stumble and fall. Looking down, he saw the bullet wound, blood oozing out onto the floor.

      He tried to stand but his strength had left him. Pulling his arm round he fired at the soldiers again. They responded with a hail of bullets. His last thoughts as the bullets pierced vital organs was of Marlene. He had failed her. He never felt the last bullet.

Author’s notes:      Have I gone mad? Killing off 2 central characters already? Well..no. This was all planned from the start and there’s till a lot of story to go. It just won’t involve Tifa or Barret (I apologise now to fans of either. Sorry they weren’t in this fic much). Chapter 3 sees things calm down a bit, with some more surprises.

Copyright:      Everyone belongs to Squaresoft. So do the buildings, the cities and the copyright material. Incidentally: don’t sue me please. I’m sorry I killed 2 of your characters.